Percy's POV
The pain I felt when I landed was crushing. Literally. That harpy had taken a toll on me, and even as I was rushed to the infirmary, I felt the pain increasing. Even Abigail couldn't help me.
"Over here!" Will Solace called, "I need to take a look at that leg." There was no pain anymore. Just a vague buzzing.
"Will," I croaked out, "I can't feel my leg." Will brushed some his hair out of his face, frowning.
"You're in so much pain your brain can't process it," he told me, "Have some ambrosia. Abi, get me some water."
I closed my eyes, feeling him cut away the fabric of my pants from the knee and below. He let out a low whistle, "Yikes."
"That good, huh?" I groaned drily. Annabeth burst into the infirmary, yelling.
"Seaweed Brain!" She practically roared. "What the Hades did you do to yourself?"
Will pulled her to the side, whispering, but I could hear every word.
"He got lucky this time," he muttered, "Fractured his kneecap. Had he moved his leg even a centimeter to the left it would have shattered. I can heal him, but it will take a while."
"The battle isn't going well," Annabeth whispered back, "We need him. We need something to even the odds."
"I'm sorry, Annabeth, but I have a patient to take care of."
Annabeth lowered her eyes, "I know. I'm worried for him, too. But there's going to be a massacre if we can't get someone, anyone, out there."
I took a deep breath and said, "Help me up."
The blondes looked at me incredulously. "Excuse me?" Annabeth asked.
"You heard me."
She glared at me, saying, "You're in no condition to stand, let alone fight."
I stared her in the eye. "I kind of have t-"
Annabeth cut me off sharply. "No, Percy," she snapped, "I don't care what you have to do. You don't have to fight. You don't have to go out on the battlefield and risk your life for everyone else's."
"I let you fight after you took that poisoned knife." I argued back.
"That was different. I had hours to heal after ambrosia and nectar. This just happened."
"You told Will yourself, Annabeth," I snapped impatiently, "People are going to die if I don't get out there."
"You are going to die if you don't stay in here!" Annabeth yelled back, visibly near tears. She continued, softer this time. "How much do you think your death will cripple the camp, Percy? What are we going to do without you? What am I going to do without you. I just got you back. I can't lose you again."
I reached out and took her hand. "I need to do this. Not just for the camp, but for me. People are dying on the battlefield, and I'm going to help them. Let me do this. Let yourself be okay with it."
So she did.
And I'm starting to wish she wasn't okay with it.
The second my leg shifted it was as if it was being ripped from my body. Thousands of bolts of pain shot up and down my leg and my vision started to blur. Abigail and Annabeth led me outside, the pain slowly lessening, but not at all disappearing.
I took a water bottle from Will and poured it onto my knee, letting it soak in and re-energize me. I uncapped Riptide, using Abigail as a crutch to limp onto the battlefield.
A simple 'I'm ready' was all I managed to say before I heard Michael's voice carry through the air in a frantic "Hit the deck!"
Despite his warning, I pushed Abi away from me and limped forward, using Riptide as a walking stick. I rounded a bend and saw Michael Vey, his entire body glowing blue with the intensity of his electricity, sending waves of it off his skin. He started to rise off the ground, his hair and clothes whipping around in the wind that was steadily picking up.
He opened his eyes, and they were the electric blue of a child of Zeus.
I was so startled I tripped. And despite the excruciating pain, I was glad I did.
In the next second, there was an explosion and a shock wave was sent out around him, vaporizing monsters, uprooting trees, and smashing through the remaining cabins.
The demigods, already on the ground, were spared most of the damage, but there were quite a handful with burns, dazed expressions, and hair sticking up with all of the static.
"Michael!" I heard Taylor and Ostin cry in unison, rushing towards the large pit in the center of the lawn that had not been there before.
I made my way over to him as well, seeing Michael in all of his electric glory...
Laying on his back while unconscious and wisps of smoke rising from his skin.
I picked my way down, ignoring all of the pain I was feeling because Michael's condition must be much work. I shook his shoulder when I reached him, although I doubted it would do much good to the unconscious boy.
"Out cold," I reported when Taylor and Ostin reached me.
Ostin knelt next to his friend, checking his pulse. "Well, he's still alive and breathing. That's a plus, right?" Taylor leaned over her boyfriend, tears welling up in her eyes.
She put her hand on his head, closing her eyes. She gasped. "He's awake."
He shot up, the electricity fading from his eyes until all that was left was the normal blue.
He held up his hand, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. He frowned. "It's gone. All of it. It's gone."
Taylor wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes tightly.
"I've never been normal," Michael muttered, "And I hated it. But now that I am, I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Taylor squeezed his shoulders lightly.
"Normal is okay," Taylor whispered, trying to comfort him, "Within the hour, we'll all be normal. But you'll always be special to me, and to all of the other Glows and demigods."
I snickered. "Yeah, Vey. Do what the teachers tell you to and be unique. Just like everybody else."
Taylor glared at me over Michael's shoulders.
"We've been summoned to the Olympus," Annabeth called down. "Demigods and Glows." As her eyes landed on Michael, she mouthed 'What's up with him?'
I waved her away, mouthing back, "Tell you on the way."
<*~*~*~*>
The elevator was crowded and awkward, and the elevator music was not helping. I led the awestruck Glows into the throne room of the gods.
"Demigods!" Zeus boomed, then coughed, "And, ahem, mortals, I congratulate you on your recent victories."
I grinned, knowing how hard this was for him to say. "Mortals, Zeus? I think you mean heroes." This brought a round of cheers from the demigods behind me. The Electroclan shifted uncomfortably, still trying to comprehend that they were in the presence of the gods.
Zeus nodded tersely. "Yes, yes, Perseus," he conceded, "Even so, there are certain matters the need to be attended to, first and foremost, the involvement of Annabeth Chase in the war."
I narrowed my eyes at the King of the Gods as Annabeth stepped up bravely. I didn't trust him. Leaning over to Taylor, I muttered, "Can you get a read on him from over here?"
She nodded ever so slightly, making sure no one was listening before she spoke. "His entire aura is electric. It's a bit overwhelming, if I'm honest."
I laid a hand on her shoulder, whispering again. "Intentions?"
Taylor furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "Not sure yet. If anything pops up I'll let you know."
"Annabeth Chase," Zeus thundered, "Your actions have been... questionable, to say the least. You are a traitor to Olympus."
I looked over at Taylor, who mouthed 'not yet.'
"I believe I was under the influence of your own son, who should be facing these charges."
Zeus simply ignored her words, continuing. "A charge that, as you should know, is punishable by death."
I couldn't help myself this time, and despite Taylor's frantically shaking head, I stepped forward, the movement a little awkward on my crutches. "Without her, you wouldn't have a crown, Zeus."
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, she will be pardoned for her past services to Olympus," Zeus said.
"Pardoned? She saved your sorry immortal butts! And so did the Electroclan."
He smiled victoriously, as if he had been planning this. "Ah, who can forget the very mortals that made the rise of Tartarus possible in the first place. Step forward, mortals. Daughter of Athena, you are dismissed."
Styx.
I had known that Zeus was paranoid, but paranoid enough to dispose of mortals? This was his scheme all along.
"I hear you have pieces of my master bolt within you," Zeus said slowly, staring at them as if they were his prey. "And Tartarus used you?"
Ostin cracked, stepping away. "It's not even all of us," he stuttered quickly, beads of sweat slipping down his face. "Jack and I are normal. And half of their powers are gone. No big deal."
"What do you propose, father?" Athena asked diplomatically, "A pardon? A renewal of their powers?"
Taylor, who was still at my side, being a demigod and all, leaned over to me. "Something dangerous is coming, Percy," she muttered, "I can feel it."
Since she didn't specify, I could only assume her power had disappeared for good. "I don't like the look of this either."
Zeus smiled sickly and laced his fingers together. "Well, someone must be held responsible for the death of my son, Jason. And the last remnants of Tartarus's army are here before us. With that information, what do you propose we do, daughter?"
I hobbled forward another step. "Okay, I might not be the wisdom goddess, but I can see where this is going, and you're going to have a war on your hands that you'll actually have to fight in before you touch these guys."
I heard pops of static electricity from the Sky God and realized I had hit a nerve. He quickly regained his composure, however, and smiled down at me. "Oh, believe me, Perseus, I will not be laying a finger on their puny mortal heads."
I nodded in satisfaction. Until I heard his next words, that is.
"I only require one. Perhaps one of you goes by the name of Michael Vey?"
I fought down a protest as Michael stepped forward to face Zeus. I looked at the other gods of the Olympian Council, none of which would meet my eyes, not even Poseidon.
"I never much liked cocky mortals," Zeus mused. "I heard what you said to Brayden, and you are very welcome that I did not strike you down right then. However, a price must be paid."
"For what?" Michael managed to croak out.
"Why, your father, of course. Did you not know he was a scientist for Tartarus? The one who managed to get the MEI working in the first place?" Michael blanched.
"Um, yes. But what does that have to do with me?" Zeus only smiled at the Glow, humorless smile.
"Someone must pay for your father's sins, and who better than his own son, the very essence of the outcome of his experiment?"
Just as I was about to speak, it seemed that Michael had a burst of confidence.
"Are you messed up in the head?" He demanded, drawing a chuckle from the gods and a small 'yes' from Poseidon.
"Do you even know how many deaths we had down there in the actual fight?" Michael yelled, appalling the King of the gods. "So many more than just your son, who wasn't even important enough for you to get off of your godly behind to save! Tessa, Jake, the mortal, better Zeus, and even before that, Wade. Do you understand that the safe haven of the demigods is destroyed?"
Zeus's face grew to be an ugly shade of red. "Such insolence! You are without your powers and yet your head still cannot comprehend that I am a god. I can burn you to a crisp with a flick of a wrist. Incinerate you with a single thought."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Please do, your highness. It would be refreshing for everyone to actually see you do something."
Zeus's smile returned with a vengeance, and the real Master Bolt appeared in his hands. "Gladly."
I stumbled forward, crashing to the ground. Suddenly I realized that my broken leg was not just a cruel twist of fate for me. It was to stop me from stopping what would happen next.
I reached my hand out in a futile attempt to stop the bolt as it left Zeus's hand. "Long live Olympus!" Zeus bellowed as a flash filled the room.
The bolt struck Michael in the chest faster than my eyes could follow, he flew backward into the wall, sending cracks through the stone.
Screams were heard, accompanied by sobs and cries of agony. The sound of pebbles falling to the ground seemed as deafening as an avalanche.
I heard a sizzle, followed by a roar. I looked over at the wall from where I had fallen. A spark. A light. A yell. Then nothing.
I squinted, trying to sit up.
All at once, I was blinded. My eyes closed, but I could still feel the burning brightness of the light.
Impossible, I thought, He can't. He's gone. Struck down by the gods.
I felt, then, the strength of the aura that suddenly filled my senses. I fought through the light, and saw a shadowed figure standing, his arms extended sideways. Piercing blue eyes cut through the white light, and just as it started to fade, a voice, all to recognizable, shouted.
"I AM ELECTRIC!"